Farming Proxy

I just finished watching a very Earth day appropriate movie called No Impact Man: The Documentary. The movie documents the story of a man, his wife and his daughter’s journey to have no net impact on the environment. They lived without electricity, ate only local and fresh foods (nothing processed), walked/biked everywhere, purchased only used goods, used no plastics or paper goods (including toilet paper…that would be a stretch for me), and tried to create an overall zero waste household (they also composted…something that I can’t wait to try, but I need a yard/balcony first…otherwise that would be a Bibo disaster).

There were definitely a few arguable points, but overall the movie was thought provoking and I liked it. (Arguable points: His wife’s career with Babylon —-which someone pointed out created the position we are in now—-ex. “your wife doesn’t take the elevator, but yet she works for a capitalist corporation that represents the crux of the problem, is that not a contradiction?” —-BOOOM. Or the fact that many of the world lives daily without the amenities that he so easily took away from himself—it’s easy for a rich family to do such an “experiment”).

All those things aside, I really rate him for following through and completing his project. In the beginning of the movie he said, “I’m trying to live life in line with my values”. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. Imagine a world where we all try to live up to our values? What would that world look like? What would your individual life look like? For me, my family would have to live in a hut in the forest (because unless we create our internet connection and our own currency we would inevitably have to participate in Babylon’s system). But my isolated hut in the forest is not realistic, and moderation in life is key —so I trod on.

So what can we do as individuals to create a better society? Most importantly we have to recognize our complete oneness and connection with all creation. No Impact Man summed it up perfectly when he said, “The environmental problems in our planet have come because of the breakdown of community, because without community none of us feel accountable to anyone else.” Once we begin to acknowledge community AND recognize that our actions will impact another human being then can we truly begin to see a more just society and give more to Mama Earth than we take from her.